Feminists Should Wear the Shoe Only When It Fits

Suddenly it is news that Gloria Steinem, The Feminist, has had doubts about her self-worth and even more dispiriting, has loved The Wrong Man.

According to the advance P.R., these are but two of the shocking revelations laid bare in Steinem’s new book, “The Revolution From Within: A Book of Self-Esteem,” which she is busily promoting right now.

In her book, Steinem reportedly links herself with Every Woman, developing the thesis that it is possible to live life without slavish adherence to a political platform and, incredibly, not even have the wherewithal to hate yourself in the morning for doing just that.

I’d like to say that I am happy for Gloria Steinem. Really. I have always liked her style, her wit. And I am glad that she has bumped up against Inner Truth, taken the time to chronicle the encounter in print, and that now she will be cashing royalty checks at the bank.

But for most women, this is very old news. “Having it all” is more than a myth, it is a hoax. Women, sigh, are just as human as men--only it’s bigger news when we trip. See, honey. What did you expect ?

Still, Steinem’s timing is good. Feminism, The Topic--if not quite Feminism, The Way of Life--is hot. The debate over its relevance, indeed, its very existence, lives.

Is it dead, reincarnated or simply in drag? Let me put it this way: Would you vote for Anita Hill? How will you feel if the Supreme Court says the law can compel you to give birth? Do you care if Bill Clinton has been sleeping with a woman other than his wife?

Depending on how you answer the above, the political savants say they can chart your ideological core. After all, the personal is political--or is it the other way around? No matter. The key is in making the link, which can lead to pretty dangerous stuff. It can change the way that people think.

I suggest that for starters, women begin with their feet.

To wit: Next to this newspaper’s interview with Steinem the other day was an item that spoke to me more loudly than she about how far women must go before they can get on equal footing with men.

The USC School of Medicine and the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society conducted a survey in which they found that 88% of women, ages 20 to 60, were wearing shoes that were smaller than their feet. Eighty percent said their feet hurt.

The researchers did not bother to interview any men.

“We didn’t study men,” said Dr. Carol Frey of USC, “because most men won’t wear shoes that don’t fit.”

Of course. For men, it has always been comfort first. This is just common sense, with no strings attached. “No nonsense,” is the term. This is admired, even revered . This guy don’t take no guff.

If a woman lives by that creed, she is making a statement of the most political sort. It says, in essence, “I do not care. I will not play the game, so count me out.”

In other words, this is a woman who is a party pooper, probably strident , a radical, or maybe she just can’t get a date. (This is undoubtedly why she has “given up.”)

Women, as far as I can remember, have always worn shoes that pinch. “My feet are killing me,” generations of the high heeled have complained. Some plaintively note that manufacturers just don’t make shoes that match the width of their feet.

Then these women hobble on, taking baby steps forward in ill-fitting shoes, moaning with each step. And there is a feeling of reward at the end of the day, when the shoes come off and the pain subsides. That is, until the next time that they step out of their homes.

I do not wish to take this metaphor too far, yet I believe that it is apt. Most women do not question what has always been, the little things, the mundane bits and pieces that patch together our lives. They should. It’s the little things that are

forming the mortar of a new revolutionary creed.

Feminism, the Lofty Theory, may indeed be moribund, if not already in the ground. Every Woman has been saying that she simply can’t relate. She has a husband to feed, kids to dress and bath, groceries to buy and a “real” job from 9 to 5. Feminist enlightenment sounds like something for the leisure class.

But today’s feminism touches a much broader base. It is fueled by quiet anger, and shock, that for as far as women have come, the absurd underpinnings of inequality remain in place. Society’s mind set is still overwhelmingly male. “They just don’t get it,” is becoming a rallying cry.

I doubt that any bras will be burned in this ‘90s installment of the movement. (And for the record, even Steinem says she has never seen a burned bra or one even lightly singed.)

But, really, The Battle of the Sexes has never been more than a hollow headline from Day 1. It is sizzling, but it is not real.

The reality of today’s feminism is mundane. Take off the confining shoes, then step out and get something done. I hear there’s a market for women’s footwear that fits.